august rides

[Jolt]

40 miles today, average speed 13.4 mph, with a climb of Mt. Agamenticus (not really a mountain, but a good sized hill in the town of York). Elevation gain on the road up Mt. A is 896 feet, average 10% grade but up to 14%. Pretty small stuff compared to the climbs some of you do, but was a challenge for me. I was in my lowest gear most of the way, but didn't have to get off and walk. Need to remember the bug spray next time...there were lots of those annoying small bugs that like to fly right in one's face, and I couldn't go fast enough up the hill to drop them! On the way home a thunderstorm blew through so I ducked into a little farmstand store which had all kinds of good stuff; I had a raspberry-oatmeal square, an all-natural soda and tried some of their cheeses, jams and salsas that they had out for sampling. I will definitely have to go back there prepared to bring some things home. Once the storm had passed, the rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful although I have some tweaking to do on the bike since getting the thick-soled cycling shoes which required me to raise the saddle about an inch...my neck and upper back were getting uncomfortable either from a) having more weight on my hands because the saddle is now higher in relation to the bars, or b) having a little more reach because I did not move the saddle forward at all when I adjusted the height. I had no such discomfort before the shoe/resulting saddle height change, including on my 50-miler two months ago which I did in my very thin-soled Merrells, so I know that is the culprit. If tweaking saddle position doesn't solve the problem I guess the next step will be a stem with a little more rise, which will be annoying since I just changed the stem this spring (when I got the bike).

[emily_in_nc]

We've had a windy few days, and although the temperatures have been more reasonable, I think I prefer the heat and light winds to this. At least I haven't had a flat for the past few days.

Yesterday: 52.2 miles
Today 36.6 miles

Tomorrow -- utility ride to recycling place, farmer's market, and grocery. Short and sweet!

[Raindrop]

I must be a lightweight these days because you are all doing a whole lot more than me. I try and get out in the mornings before I have appointments, but even then, I only average about 26 miles a day.

My high point this week? My son is going through a divorce and I only get to see my grandkids for 1 1/2 days one week, and 3-4 days the next. Well, I often ride on the other side of our city and i was riding past a park where I knew the grandkids sometimes went with their babysitter. (no, I'm not a stalker). Anyway, I glanced down to the playground structure and saw several small children with some adults. As I rode closer I saw my grandson and his babysitter, (after seeing it wasn't "stranger-danger') yelled, "Hey! It's Bobbi! (My grandmother name)....Both kids (my grandson and my grand-daughter came running over. Hugging me they said, "yuck! you're really sweaty". The babysitter asked why I was so far from home and I just told her that the east side of town was more bike friendly in that there are a lot of bike lanes. My side of town has older roads with huge drop-offs and a lot of people that don't really like it if you take your lane,

Anyway, seeing my "angels" on an off day was sweet!!!

Adding that my picture is my grandson!

[shootingstar]

Sounds like your grandchildren really enjoy seeing you, Raindrop.

Perfect day today --bright, sunny and around 25 degree C with a slight cool light breeze. Cycled 45 km. Did some light grocery shopping midway, stopped off from bike path route to a local science centre for a huge cup of coffee and on way back, near home, stopped at street festival. I stopped the first time this year just to look around. Other years I passed this annual festival on bike. This year, it appears a much bigger event which is great to see since the area was damaged by the flood last year.

[Crankin]

I did a 37.5 mile ride from Acton to Bolton Farms for lunch, and back. My friend changed the first part of the ride from what DH and I usually do, and today it was 2 climbs I haven't done in ages (the first since last year and the second, I only remember doing it once, during my first year of riding). The weather was lovely, about 84, light breeze, and thankfully, becoming cloudier after lunch, when there's a moderate 3 mile climb that is not shaded. DH had worked on my bike a bit before I left and there were some shifting issues, but nothing bad happened. However, when I got home, he went to look at it and realized both of my bikes needed new chains. While he was "testing" to see what was wrong with the shifting, he got on my bike and rode it around the driveway; first ride since his crash. He felt good and may go out with me tomorrow. His 6 week check is Monday, and he knows the doctor will still say September, but he is getting antsy and frankly, we know people that have been back on the bike 3 weeks post surgery.
Anyway, my ride had just under 1,900 ft. of climbing and I am ready for the Mojitos DH is making.

[roo4]

About 24 miles of sharply rolling hills. Average speed was 13.7. I added a couple of miles by climbing the dreaded Bait Shop Hill, which I had never done before. Turns out it was steep, but short. Much shorter than the beast that loomed in my imagination. Take that, beast!

[emily_in_nc]

Crankin, that's great that your DH got on your bike and rode around, even if just for a little driveway test. Sounds like he's healing up quickly! Know you're both glad of that.

Today was not what I expected because FINALLY we got a day without wind. We've been fighting it for days now, so today was a real gem. We did our usual errand ride in the morning: recycling, farmer's market, and grocery outlet on Bike Fridays, 10 miles total. Temps were in the 70s with sunshine and low humidity, so after unloading, we grabbed more water and snacks and headed out for a 40-miler on our Treks. That was supposed to be tomorrow's ride for me, but since we're leaving tomorrow afternoon for a several-day short side roadtrip, I was really happy to get it done today so tomorrow I can get up and pack and take a day off the bike. I haven't taken a day off since Tuesday so am ready!

Temp did get up in the 80s and a slight breeze started up at the end of our ride, but nothing much. Since we didn't have wind and the route was a less hilly one, I ended up with a very rare over 15 mph average.